General
COIMBATORE: A 58-year-old tribal man was found dead in a toilet at the Udumalpet forest range office in the early hours of Thursday. Relatives of the man suspect foul play in his death.The deceased, identified as P Marimuthu of Melgurumalai near Udumalpet in Tirupur district, was allegedly detained by Kerala forest department officers on Wednesday evening.According to a TN forest department press release, Marimuthu was detained at the Chinnar forest check post by Kerala forest officers while he was travelling from Udumalpet to Munnar. The officers found a leopard tooth in his possession. During a preliminary investigation, Marimuthu allegedly confessed to purchasing the tooth from a man named Sankar.
He was subsequently handed over to Udumalpet forest range officers for further investigations, where he hanged himself inside a toilet using his lungi.However, tribal activist S Thanaraj contested the official version. “Marimuthu’s death appears suspicious and bears similarities to the Ajith Kumar custodial murder case in Thirupuvanam,” he said. Thanaraj alleged that forest department officers were seeking revenge after Marimuthu was acquitted in a previous cannabis case on July 29.
“He was actually detained by Udumalpet forest officers, not Kerala authorities. We believe he was severely beaten up during interrogations, leading to his death,” Thanaraj said. He demanded a CB-CID probe into the incident and sought a compensation of Rs 50 lakh for Marimuthu’s family.Marimuthu’s daughter M Sindhu lodged a complaint with the Udumalpet police. In her complaint, she stated that her father and mother, Pandiyammal, were staying in Munnar and running a provision store there.
While he was returning to Munnar after visiting his lawyer in Udumalpet, forest range officers illegally secured him, she stated.“Since we are tribals, forest officers demanded that we accept the fake cases which they registered against us. As my father refused to accept fake cases, forest range officers have done this,” she stated in the complaint.Meanwhile, on being alerted by the forest department officers, Udumalai deputy superintendent of police reached the spot and began investigations. The body was sent for postmortem.